Sometimes, despite the most perfectly delivered writing lesson implemented with fidelity, students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) do not make the progress expected by teachers or themselves. In these instances, teachers may individualize and differentiate for students with EBD not making adequate progress by purposefully…

Engaging and motivating learners to successfully complete their studies are crucial elements for the success of distance educators around the world. The researchers' AIM newsletter, which is formatted in accordance with motivational learning theory, has been delivered to first-year learners in economics at Open Polytechnic of New Zealand from 2010…

Appraisal Centers provide authentic experienced-based communities of practice for preservice teachers (PSTs) to show application of theory into practice at critical gateways throughout their elementary education program while fulfilling School of Education dispositions, course objectives, and state standards. A goal is to provide formative…

This paper looks at the popularity of after-school mathematics by focusing on the Kumon and Russian School of Mathematics models. In 1954, Toru Kumon, a high school math teacher in Japan, designed a series of math worksheets to help improve the test scores of his son Takeshi, a second grader. Toru's goal was to teach Takeshi how to learn…

Many students possess their own unique potential and "genius," but seem to base their worth on the status of grades instead of their connection to education itself. Antonio Salieri, for instance, created wonderful, emotionally binding music throughout his lifetime. Salieri however, never saw the beauty in his work because Mozart, a child…

Very few articles, chapters or professional presentations exist that are devoted to implementing the Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) within physical education teacher education (PETE) programs. Given the climate of high-stakes assessment permeating both K-12 schools and educator preparation programs, it is encouraging to know that the best…

The purpose of this article is to assist general and special educators in identifying and implementing effective academic programming in the general education environment for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Throughout this article, the authors attempt to demonstrate how students with ASD can successfully receive instruction in a…

Writing is an essential skill and outcome for academic and professional success, but the call for evidence-based practices and instructional differentiation to support all student-writers' needs has yet to be sufficiently addressed. The Common Core State Standards' Initiative resurfaced a focus on writing instruction and brought attention to…

This article discusses the challenge of addressing student diversity in secondary physical education (PE) classes. Contemporary curriculum documents and teacher standards emphasize differentiated pedagogy in order to engage and challenge all learners. However, the reality of designing effective learning experiences for diverse students represents…

Higher education institutions are increasingly recognizing the importance of organizational change as they face complex challenges. Leadership learning has been identified as an important way of supporting change management. We describe a leadership learning arrangement that arose in the context of two of the authors needing to learn how to become…

The need for a shared vision concerning exemplary curricula for academically advanced learners must be a priority in the field of education. With the advent of the Common Core State Standards adoption in many states, a new conversation has been ignited over meeting the needs of students with gifts and talents for whom the "standard"…

Many states are moving away from approaches that base student advancement on credits and "seat time" toward competency-based learning approaches that provide schools with the flexibility to link a student's advancement to mastery of content. Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands, in partnership with the Northeast…

Many students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have specialized interests and passions that are highly reinforcing. Such special interest areas (SIAs) are more than mere hobbies or simple curiosities. Rather, the SIAs of an individual with autism may be characterized by (a) significant depth and breadth of knowledge about the area, (b)…

Flipped learning is a type of blended learning model. Blended learning (as defined by the Innosight Institute) refers to "a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online delivery of content and instruction [with] some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace AND at least in part at a…

With the growth in blended and fully online K-12 instruction, all students, including those with disabilities, are finding online learning a viable option to address learner variability. Personalized learning or the individualized education program appears to align well with the many features of blended and fully online instruction. The purpose of…